Hard To Say Goodbye
by ATasteOfFaberry
Summary: AU. Faberry. The moment Quinn steps into the classroom, Rachel realizes that her world was never really complete and that Quinn was made just for her.
1. I Knew I Loved You

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Glee or any of the songs the chapters happen to be named after.

* * *

_She heard a giggle to her left as she approached the park. She glanced around and found the reason for which she was here- blond hair, a featureless face and a beautiful sundress. The girl was sitting on a swing, delicately swaying back and forth. Even though she couldn't see the girls face, she knew it held a breathtaking smile that would burn its image into her heart for years to come. She made her way over, sitting on the swing next to the girl._

"_I thought you wouldn't make it," the girl confided._

"_I was simply weighing the pros and cons of attending this meeting before deciding that it didn't matter because I wanted to see you."_

"_Well, it's all set up, so we should go there now," the blond announced before getting up and walking toward a patch of grass that seemed to materialize out of nowhere._

_How she didn't notice the grass was beyond her but she got up and followed the girl anyway. As she approached, the sky became a little cloudy but nothing felt ominous about it. When they finally reached their destination, she realized there was a picnic set up. Smiling, she sat down, looking over the food set out for them. A few berries, a couple of sandwiches and a few bottles of water were scattered about. It touched her that someone went through the trouble to make her feel so special._

"_I'm sorry it isn't overly extravagant but this was all I had in the house," the girl apologized._

"_Please, don't be. It's beautiful," she sighed. And to her, it truly was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen._

_They nibbled on some strawberries and laughed at nothing for what seemed only a few seconds before the scene morphed and it was raining. The two girls were running wildly through a park, laughing and trying to find a tree that provided good cover. She chased the blond, feeling freer than she ever had. When the reached the base of a rather large tree, she leaned against it, out of breath and filled with joy._

"_I thought it wasn't supposed to rain today?" she questioned._

"_I thought so too," the girl replied._

_They sat down, their backs against the tree and watched the rain pour around them. It was peaceful, listening to the sound of raindrops hitting the world that surrounded them. It felt surreal, like this was a world created simply for her and filled with nothing but the overwhelming sensation of happiness that she has never known. She bumped shoulders with the blond before turning her head to tell her that they should have ran toward a car instead but the words never came forth._

_Instead, her eyes met those of the blonde's- sharp, brilliant hazel eyes that held every emotion under the sun. And then it happened, in slow motion and with such a passion she was sure it was all a dream. Their lips met in the most gentle of kisses. A simple passion igniting a fire that she thought she had buried a long time ago, lighting her world up in a show of colors and sounds. The scenery melted into a show of lights and colors, flashing to the sound of the girl's heartbeat. Their lips moved together for the briefest of moments, a few seconds at most before the blond pulled back, breathless but happy._

Rachel woke to the sound of her alarm blaring in her ears. It was time to get up and get started on her morning routine. She didn't climb out of bed though, opting to slam her hand down on her alarm and kill the offending noise. That was the third time in a row she had that dream, the seventh in the past two weeks. It obviously meant that she was going to fall in love with a girl but she couldn't understand why she didn't know who it was. The only blond she truly knew was Brittany but the girl didn't have that flame to her eyes.

Sighing, she rolled out of bed and walked into the bathroom. She opted out of her routine and decided a shower and some breakfast was more than adequate for how unfair her alarm was. She had to admit though—that was the first time the dream ever made it to that stage of it. Her lips still tingled with the idea that someone could make her feel so loved with just a kiss.

She was at school in her seat before she knew it, pulling out her utensils for the day and laying them neatly about her desk. A notebook in front of her, opened to a blank page and a pencil in hand, she waited eagerly for instruction. When the teacher spoke, however, Rachel had a feeling her life was about to change. For better or worse, she couldn't figure it out but the feeling settled in the pit of her stomach and she waited, holding her breathe.

"Today, class, we have a new student joining us. I would appreciate it if we all welcomed her," the teacher said briefly before everything Rachel ever knew changed. The girl walked in. She was a little taller than Rachel, with piercing hazel eyes and the most gorgeous blond hair she had ever seen.

Her chest tightened. The world slowed down and Rachel felt that if she were just to breath, the moment would disappear and slip between her fingers like grains of sand. She could not allow that to happen. After all, she was Rachel Berry and she had plans, she had dreams and she knew exactly who she was and what she wanted. Granted she was only 13 and had a lifetime ahead of her, she was never more sure of anything in her life—aside from knowing that she would take Broadway by storm by the time she was 19. But this? She was entirely sure that this being that walked through the classroom door was perfection and she was pretty sure that she dreamed about this girl millions of times before this moment happened. Rachel knew immediately that this was it for her.

"Hi. My name is Quinn Fabray and I just moved here with my mother and father."

When the girl spoke, everything clicked. It all fell into place. This girl had the voice of an angel and she refused to not have that voice in her life. Rachel began to make a detailed outline of exactly how she was going to approach the girl after school: what she was going to say and how she would say it. Perhaps the blond would not be put off by her long, drawn out statements and her eclectic taste in fashion. Perhaps she had a chance at her first real friendship. She almost cried with sheer joy at the idea that she might finally have a chance at being happy.

The teacher directed the object of Rachel's affection to an empty seat two rows over from her but one desk in front of her. It'd be easy to get away with staring or occasionally glancing over - which is exactly what she did the rest of the school day. She watched the girl twirl a piece of hair between her fingers, bite her lip in concentration. Rachel was almost positive that at the age of 13, she wasn't supposed to be so enamored with someone she had just met but she was never one for testing out the waters. She always dove in head first and surfaced wherever she happened to run out of breath.

She daydreamed of picnics in parks, laughing and running through a rainstorm, breathlessly falling into each other and sharing kisses under the protection of a tree. Her idea of perfection and her idea of the life ahead of her were melding into one. As the teacher droned on, she found it more and more difficult to concentrate. Images of a happy and shared future flashed through her mind at a rapid pace, threatening to overload her heart with feelings for a romantic girl she wasn't even sure would accept her friendship, yet. Rachel had always felt she had a sixth sense for fleshing out how certain things would turn out before they happened thus giving her more confidence in approaching the radiant being.

She almost missed what the homework assignments were, but thankfully Rachel learned how to multitask by the age of 6. The final bell rang and she quickly gathered her things before making her way over to Quinn. Stopping next to her desk, she waited for the blond to acknowledge her presence. The blond did, eventually, with a jump and a squeak of surprise. Rachel just beamed at her and thought about how cute that reaction was.

"Hello. My name is Rachel Berry and seeing as how you are new here, you are probably in need of a friend or two so I am here to extend an offer of friendship to you that I'm hoping you will not turn down. I feel it is important that we make as many friends as possible at a young age so that we may develop our social skills quicker and with much more efficiency."

She noticed that Quinn looked a little startled at the length of her statement and she was going to apologize but their eyes connected and she faltered. Stuttering over her words, she finished, "I-I'm sorry. I tend to sound overbearing when nervous."

"Do you always talk like that?"

Her smile faded even more at the slight hint of annoyance in the girl's voice, but she pressed forward. "I tend to ramble a bit, yes. Most people find it… well, that doesn't matter." And the smile was back in place. "Would you like to be friends?"

Simple. It was so simple, the phrase. She should have opened with that, she thought. She should have just asked Quinn if she would like to be friends because the smile that formed on the girl's features was breathtaking. Their eyes locked on each other and again, Rachel found it beside herself to form words.

"I think I'd like that. You seem like you could be an okay person."

"Okay person? I'll have you know that I can be quite an amazing person if the chance arises," she huffed. "Perhaps you would like to exchange numbers so that we may call upon each other at a later date to partake in teenage activities?"

Quinn laughed, shaking her head and Rachel's heart soared. "'Partake in teenage activities?' We are so working on that crazy vocabulary you have going." But the girl grabbed Rachel's hand and scribbled her number on the back of it before smiling and offering up hers for the same treatment.

Not too long after, Rachel was standing in an empty classroom, staring at her hand with a goofy smile plastered on her features. With a bounce in her step, she exited the classroom, walked down the hallway and out the front doors to go greet her daddy. She walked with purpose towards the car, climbing into the back and beaming at the man in the front seat.

"You seem rather happy today. Something good happen?"

"There was a new girl today Daddy and just like you always said, one day someone would understand that I am not crazy for speaking in such a manner but rather find it just part of my personality. However, that is not of importance right now. What is of vital important is that we make preparations as I would like to have a friend over this weekend and we simply can _not _be unprepared for such an event."

Her daddy chuckled softly but nodded in agreement and set forth towards the Berry household. The whole while, Rachel sat in the back with a smile on her face that felt as if it would never go away, with a single phrase floating through her mind: _I think I just found my best friend._


	2. Thats What Friends Are For pt1

**Part 1**

Quinn sat at the table in the library, hunched over her Math textbook, and groaned softly as the numbers began to become unreadable. Her head hit the pages with an audible thump, causing Rachel to nearly jump out of her seat. She didn't really care that she scared the girl at that moment so she made a mental note to apologize later.

"Quinn. While I understand that math can be a frustrating and fruitless endeavor, I find that having ones head on the pages instead of studying the numbers will cause a person to do the opposite of succeeding which is what we are trying to avoid by studying at this very moment."

Not even bothering to lift her head from the book, Quinn responded with something that sounded suspiciously like the words 'buck' and 'fool' but the other girl shrugged it off and continued on her path to the perfect grade. Quinn, on the other hand, closed her eyes and tried to relax a bit. She couldn't study with the headache that was forming behind her eyes so she wasn't about to try. What she didn't expect was Rachel gently shaking her awake and informing her that she had to go since her Dad was there.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Not very long Quinn, but I must reiterate the importance of studying when you return home. You fell asleep when you could have been studying how to isolate x and how to solve for y. I was going to wake you when I noticed you were sleeping but I felt that a little rest might do you some good."

Smiling at Rachel, Quinn thanked her and started to gather her things. "Thanks for staying with me until I got up."

"It wasn't an inconvenience at all, Quinn. I was going to wake you when I first noticed that you had fallen asleep but I couldn't bring myself to rouse you from your afternoon nap, seeing as you looked incredibly peaceful compared to the look you had while studying for the math test," the brunette replied.

"Oh? You could have woke me up earlier."

"It's quite alright. Quinn? Umm…What are you doing next Friday night, perchance?"

"Nothing, hopefully. There isn't a test the following Monday, right?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Though, I would be fully prepared for it if I were you as the teacher has been pretty good about keeping on schedule and having all the tests on Mondays."

"Well, whatever. Why did you want to know?"

"I was wondering if you'd… Well, no. If we have a test we must study. I shouldn't keep Daddy waiting any longer so I'm going to go now. Bye Quinn. I'll see you tomorrow."

Rachel took off toward the library doors, leaving behind a rather confused looking Quinn. A small sense of loss was felt as she stood there watching the retreating back of her friend. Quinn started to wonder if the girl had managed to lose a few brain cells while she slept but then decided that it was probably typical behavior and finished putting away her things. Not wanting to stay there much longer without the company Rachel provided, she walked out of the library and headed home. Home wasn't far from the library and she didn't want to bother her parents, so she walked-despite the offer from Rachel earlier to get picked up and dropped off.

When she got home, the house was empty. She trudged up the steps and to her room. Throwing her book-bag off to the side, she made her way over to her bed. She sat down and kicked off her shoes before lying down and snuggling into the pillows. She was still a bit tired and thought a nap couldn't hurt; she could then finally get up and study without the words jumbling together and causing undue headaches. Last night's One Tree Hill marathon was truly a bad idea. With that notion aside, sighing in comfort, she felt herself drifting off with the final thought being something about setting an alarm.

Quinn woke with a jolt of panic. Someone had knocked on her door and told her to get up or she'd be late for school, pulling her out of a rather odd dream about a girl in her class and her obsession with sharks. She looked at the clock on her nightstand. 7:47 AM glared back at her in its red glory and her stomach dropped. She didn't intend to sleep the entire night and now the awareness that she was no where near prepared for her test hit her with a force that can only be rivaled by Rachel's dream of Broadway. She scrambled out of bed and into her closet, changing clothes in a record breaking time.

She was down the stairs and in her father's car by 7:53. Sleeping all day yesterday and today's lateness encouraged disappointed looks from her father. She tried to be punctual but sometimes things just got in the way. When they arrived at school, she mumbled out a goodbye and hopped out of the car. She heard her name shouted so she turned her head to find the source. She saw Rachel waving enthusiastically in her direction but before she had a chance to go over to her, she was intercepted by her other two friends.

"Hey girl. We were wondering if you and Berry would be up for a movie this weekend," Mercedes asked, shifting her book-bag from one shoulder to the other.

"Maybe we could even get pizza before the movie starts," Tina added, a bit softer than usual.

Quinn contemplated it for a brief moment; whether her parents would say yes or no. Her chances weren't good seeing as she slept all day Sunday which caused her to be late and possibly fail her test today. She then decided she didn't really care. They would more than likely say yes just to get her out of the house so she nodded and smiled. "What movie are we going to see?"

"Some romance movie that just came out. There is some eye candy in it that I cannot pass up," Mercedes replied.

"That's alright with me. I'm going to go catch Rachel and invite her along. I'll see you guys at lunch?"

She heard confirmations as she walked off toward Rachel, smiling despite her fear of failing the math test. Rachel stood there in her argyle sweater, beaming as the blond approached her. Before Quinn could even get a 'Hello' in, the brunette started into her morning tirade about whatever happened to come across her mind.

"Are you prepared for the test today, Quinn? I know that you fell asleep at the library and you weren't looking particularly awake when I had left you standing there but that doesn't mean you couldn't go home and study by yourself for a little bit. Achieving good grades is an essential part of getting into the appropriate college and acquiring ones dreams of success and happiness."

"I fell asleep last night. I didn't get to study. I'm going to fail," Quinn sighed, leaning against Rachel. "I didn't mean to but I was tired."

"Well, I'm sure you'll do just fine Quinn. You are an intelligent girl who will pass this test with flying colors. I, on the other hand, studied the entire night and I'm not so sure now that it was the most ideal situation. I should have slept instead, opting to study for just a few hours but my nerves were going crazy as Math is not my strong suit and I felt that extra studying was in order."

"You should have just said you pulled an all-nighter and now you're afraid of failing because you're tired. I think I would have gotten that better."

"As I'm sure you would have, it would not have been nearly as articulate as I prefer to be and therefore, I would have had to reiterate the entire thing in a much longer version than that of which I have already stated."

"What?"

"…I didn't want to repeat myself after realizing that I said something without using proper English."

"Oh. Whatever. Want to go to the movies on Saturday? Or was it Sunday? Could've been Friday. I guess I should have asked," Quinn looked thoughtful for a moment before turning back to Rachel. "Is there a pizza place in the area that serves vegan pizza?"

As Rachel was about to respond, the bell rang indicating that they should make their way to first block. The brunette gave a rushed hug goodbye and took off to her first class, leaving Quinn in her wake. With a small laugh and a shake of her head, Quinn walked toward her own classroom to start her day.

Lunch came quicker than expected, the test occupying her mind until it was over only to be replaced with the worry that she failed. When she sat down next to Rachel, the girl smiled brightly at her and inquired as to how she faired.

"I'm sure I didn't fail but I didn't do nearly as well as I could have. Did you give any thought to the movies?"

"I will have to inquire with my fathers as to whether or not it would be alright for me to attend this outing with you girls but I don't see it being much of a problem as they simply adore you, Quinn, and are excited that I have a friend to go hang out with. I shall let you know tomorrow of the final decision, however, as I need to get verification first before making such plans."

Lunch ended abruptly, mostly filled with Rachel's long winded responses and her nodding at the appropriate times. The rest of the school day, as well as her night, went by without much excitement. Dinner was dull, even as she asked about the movies. Quinn's father raised an eyebrow at the mention of Rachel but she quickly quelled his rant with mentions of Mercedes and Tina inviting her along, not herself. A rather gruff acceptance was passed her way and she finished her meal without as much as a 'Please pass the salt' from her lips. Her mother gave a disapproving look as she excused herself from the table but she didn't pay much attention to it; it hurt less that way.

The next morning, Rachel wasn't outside waiting for her like normal. It left a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach that she buried deep with the denial that it was anything but worry. After all, the brunette was the one who said being punctual was the key to success in any business endeavor. She saw the familiar brown locks in second period, though, and decided that perhaps Rachel was busy that morning. When the bell rang, she caught up with her as they made their way to the lunchroom.

"You weren't outside this morning," Quinn said.

"After asking my fathers this morning about whether or not I could attend the movies with you, I was so excited about their confirmation that I had left my lunch sitting on the seat. I was halfway to my normal spot when I realized my grave mistake and rushed back to see if I could catch Daddy before he left but I failed in my mission to secure my nutritious meal for the day and almost missed the bell for the first class."

Quinn was a bit disheartened by the thought that she had caused the girl to forget her lunch and held out half her peanut butter and jelly sandwich to the girl. "I know it's not exactly what you would consider healthy but it's better than nothing, right?" With a hopeful smile, she kept it extended toward Rachel.

Rachel took it from Quinn, reluctant but hungry and took a small bite before beaming with happiness and expressing her gratitude with much enthusiasm. "While normally I do not like this type of food for my own consumption, I am incredibly grateful for the chance to not be hungry for the rest of the school day. Not eating in the middle of the day has proved to be disastrous in the past and the meals the school provides are so unsatisfactory that I would much rather be hungry than attempt to put those vile substances in my mouth. Thank you for being such an amazing friend, Quinn."

Her heart swelled with pride as Rachel continued to eat half of the sandwich she offered. Not willing to acknowledge that it wasn't because she did a good deed, she pushed this down with the strange feeling from earlier, drenching it in self-loathing thoughts of sins and penance. The desire to pray for forgiveness was quickly thrust aside when the girl offered to pack extra tomorrow to make up for having eaten half her lunch today. Quinn's heart soared. She was happier than she had been in a very long time.


End file.
